Novel
Dear Shameless Death
Sevgili Arsız Ölüm
Latife Tekin · 1983
Synopsis
Atiye, born in the city, and her husband Huvat Aktaş return with their children to the village of Alacüvek, where the family struggles to find its place; poverty and exclusion soon send it back to the city, according to the Humanities Institute. Popular beliefs, dreams and djinns mingle with these difficulties, and the younger daughter, Dirmit, is thought to be touched by the djinns. The English publisher presents a young girl who grows up in a village haunted by fairies and demons, then adapts poorly to the big city and struggles against an overbearing mother.
Context
According to turkedebiyati.org, this first novel, which depicts life in Anatolian villages in an atmosphere of legend, in the manner of One Hundred Years of Solitude, brought the author wide renown. The Humanities Institute places her work in magical realism, between nature and the supernatural, and cites among her influences García Márquez and two Turkish writers, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar and Nâzım Hikmet. Alfred Depeyrat's French translation appeared with Stock in 1997, and the English translation by Saliha Paker and Mel Kenne with Marion Boyars in 2001.
Who it is for
A novel translated into French and English, in which popular folklore and the marvellous blend with the life of a poor family.
Prizes and reception
The book that made the author known, according to turkedebiyati.org, and the first of a body of work translated into six languages.
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